I love to bake. Shortbread cookies are probably my favorite cookie of all the cookies. For a million years I used the recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook, then began to experiment and made a few changes that I thought made it the best shortbread ever.

And, then, I learned that wheat and my body weren’t friends, anymore. I made a couple attempts at GF shortbread, but they were too disappointing. I just gave them up.

Until Columbus Day 2018. (Cue the angelic chorus.)

I was looking for a Ricotta Pie recipe and the recipe I settled on suggested a cookie crust. I did a quick search, and found a recipe that read like a winner. It sounded almost exactly like my own. I did not follow her ingredients exactly, though I did use her instructions.  I will give you the link to the original recipe, and post my ingredients here.

I tell you, the cookie was so good it resurrected an old dream in my make-believe world, where I live in a cottage on a rocky seacoast somewhere, and bake shortbread cookies for the world.

The Best Gluten-Free Shortbread

Here is the original recipe: How to Make the Best Gluten-Free Shortbread. Her tips are very good, so be sure to read the whole thing.

Here is my ingredient list:

• 1 1/3 + 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch cup cornstarch (2 ounces/ 56 grams)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 14 tablespoons butter, softened (7 ounces; 198 grams)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (5 1/4 ounces; 148 grams)

The finished product was beautiful.

Next time, I will try some flavor variations. I know shortbread isn’t for everyone, but to me there’s just nothing better.

My Make-Believe Cottage

I found this pictures over 20 years ago at a yard sale in Whittier, California. It was love at first sight. You can see it’s decrepit—the frame is barely holding together, and the paper image is worn and dirty. I’m sure I paid more than it was ever worth—I think five dollars—but I wanted that little cottage. I had to make it my own. When I look at this picture, I’m right there. The Saxophone Player is on the porch with a cup of coffee, and the zinnias in the back yard are doing beautifully.

Do you have a make-believe cottage?